He was 7 when they found him. Eight years later, he is loved by everypony both in the Crystal Empire, and in Equestria. But when an event threatens their son's life, the only way to save him, is to get rid of him.
My Foal is now 15 years old. His parents raised him well, he knows the inhabitants of his hometown of the Crystal Empire, and even all of Equestria. But when his life is threatened, the only way to save their son, is to get rid of him.
Living a life in the Crystal Empire has been great to me. At first, I thought that I wouldn't be welcomed into this world, but to my surprise, I am treated like a normal pony. Is it weird for me, a human, to live in a world inhabited by colored ponies? Through my eyes, yes. But a pony once said to me: "If we could befriend anyone who isn't a pony, befriending a human won't be any different." I remember asking Princess Celestia to get rid if any foul memories I had lurking in my head. She gratefully accepted, only that they will slowly return, and when that time comes, I have to be ready to face them. I was standing in front of a mirror, looking at my body. I look pretty tall for a 15-year old, I have to admit. My once blonde hair now has been dyed to light brown. I'm wearing a gray t-shirt, brown pants, white socks, and brown shoes. I don't know if it's the lighting in the room, but my brown eyes seem to be a little brighter than I remember. Nope, most definitely the lighting. Tonight is the celebration of Twilight's anniversary of becoming an Alicorn and I must look presentable. I combed my hair as flat as I could, and hurried out the door. I don't want to be late.
I made my way outside under the dark sky and shining moonlight. I put a finger to my chin. 'Now where did Princess Celestia say that the anniversary party was going to be held?' I thought to myself. As I continued to think, a voice startled me. "My Foal!" I recognized that voice from anywhere. I turned my head and grinned as I saw Princess Twilight approach me. "Oh, hi Twilight" I greeted as she wrapped her wings around me. "Do you know where your party is being held?" I asked. "Outside, silly" she said. I looked around and noticed something.
"Um, Twilight, we are the only ones here." She giggled and nudged me with her hoof.
"We are at the wrong spot. This way" she said, walking down the street. I followed her until we reached a spot where a large tent was set up. Inside the tent, were the citizens of the Crystal Empire. I'm noticing something odd. "Uh Twilight? What about your five friends?" I asked, "Shouldn't they be here?" I asked. "Oh, I thought you knew already." "I might've forgotten, or nopony told me." Twilight laughed. "They are inviting the ponies of Ponyville to come to the anniversary" she explained. "They should be here in about an hour or so." As the two of us walked through the tent, I spotted my parents seated on thrones, watching the guests. They look like they are taking their job seriously, so I decided not to bug them. "So how does it feel being adopted into royalty, Foalie?" Twilight asked. I love it when ponies call me 'Foalie'. "Feel different" I responded. "Are you ok with having a human as a relative?" I asked. "Foalie..." She said sternly. "Right, right, you hatched and raised Spike the dragon, how could I forget." Even though we are related, Twilight sees me more as a VBFF (Very Best Friend Forever) rather than a relative. Truth be told, I feel the same way too.
An hour went by and Twilight's other friends did not arrive with the guests from Ponyville. "Where could they be? Did they get lost?" Twilight asked herself. "Don't worry, Twilight" I said in an assuring tone, "I'm pretty sure there are favors being run."
"You're probably right." Just then, a crystal pony, approached me and bowed. "Your Highness, your parents wish to see you" he said. I turned to Twilight and grinned. "I'll be right back" I told her. I went over to my parents, who were smiling at me. They both levitated a medium sized box in front of them. "Here you go son" Shining Armor said. "A gift from us to you." I reached for the case and opened it. My eyes widened with shock and awe. Inside the case was a neatly folded jacket. When I unfolded it, I saw that it was the same color pattern as my dad, and on the back, I saw that it had both their cutie marks on it. I put on the jacket and smiled. Not only was it a perfect fit, but it felt really comfortable too. My parents released the box as I hugged them both. "Thank you for the jacket" I said. "Your welcome, son" Princess Cadance said. When I stepped back, my mom blushed. "Look Shiny! He looks fit for a prince!" She squealed. I started to blush and looked away, I heard my parents laugh at my embarrassment. "Wow, Foalie! That jacket looks great on you!" I heard Twilight say as she admired the jacket. "Thanks Twilight" i thanked as she hugged me. She and I walked around the tent. Where could the others have gone? The party is supposed to start in 30 minutes. Something doesn't feel right. "Hey, are you ok, Foalie?" Twilight asked as she looked at me worriedly. "Oh yeah, I'm fine" I lied. "I'm ok, not quite myself right now." She placed a comforting hoof on my back. "Don't worry, I'm sure they'll be here" she said. It's funny how I said those words to her first. "Yeah. I'm sure they will. They probably want to make this party really special for you, so they're gathering preparations, one step at a time." Suddenly, there was a loud crash, causing panic amongst the crystal ponies. Something was not right. I knew this isn't how a celebration begins. Thunder clapped once again, and clouds began to form a face, "Disgusting!" It boomed. "A human living in harmony with Equestrians? It makes me sick!" The face eyed me and growled menacingly. "YOU, BEGONE!" It yelled. I scowled and crossed my arms. 'Not a chance.'
"Well?" The face shaped cloud asked. "Aren't you going to leave?!" "Look, whoever, or whatever the hay you are" I began. "This is my home, these are my family, end of story." The face reacted to my statement, but it wasn't the reaction I wanted. "I see... So you wish to remain in Equestria, living a life you think is wonderful, until something happens that will cause you to be hated." The crystal ponies began to talk amongst themselves with shock. "The hay are you talking about?" I asked. "Legend says that humans tried to take over Equestria! I'm not going to let that happen! Not while you're here!"
"Hey! Are you judging me because I'm a human?!" I asked. "Are you seriously going to believe that I alone CAN take over Equestria?!"
"Yes. And I'm not going to let that happen!"
"Yeah? And what if I proved you wrong, you rambling talking cloud shaped know-it-all?!" I asked. The cloud grinned a little. "My, my. I have a feeling that you and I met before."
"What?" I asked.
"Oops! I said too much." He began to disappear.
"Hey! Get back here!" I shouted.
"Not a chance!" His voice echoed. "Cross the line of taking over Equestria human, and I will make sure you'll pay for it, dearly!!!" His laugh echoed through the night sky. While the ponies muttered to themselves in the back, I clenched my fist and had one thought in mind. When I do see him, I'm going to kill him.
I walked down the hall of the castle, ticked off about being judged. But on a side note, what does my past have to do with that thing? Is he playing the bluff card just to get under my skin? Or is he actually serious about it. I shrugged it off for awhile. As I made my way down the hall, I heard some voices in a room. I walked over to a door and pressed my ear against it. I did not like what I was hearing.
"There has to be another way! He's fifteen" I heard my mother say. "Cady, I wrote a letter to Princess Celestia about the situation and she says that I should talk to Princess Luna." "And did you?"
"I did. I told her everything but..."
"But what?" I could hear my mom on the verge of tears. "In order to save him, I have to get rid of him." "No! I won't let that happen!"
"Cady, I don't want this to happen too, but this is our son's life at stake! The longer My Foal stays, the higher the chance we have of losing him."
"Shiny! I will do everything I can to protect our son!" I couldn't take this anymore. I took a few steps back away from the door and ran down the hall, only to bump into Princess Luna. I got down on one knee and lowered my head. "Forgive my rush, Princess. The night has become my enemy as of now." "Tis alright child. I'm hereth for thou" I felt her hoof rub my back. "When thou art ready, meet me in the room at the end of the hall." I got back to my feet as watched Princess Luna depart further down the hall. "What is she doing in the Crystal Empire anyway?" I asked. The door behind slowly opened, and a pair of pink fore hooves and reached out and wrapped them around me from behind. I felt her press her face against my back and cried quietly. "What's going on?" I asked. "Illusion. The one that you saw tonight" my dad answered as he stepped out. "Son, your mother and I love you very much, you know that, right?" "Of course" I answered. "You have to leave the Crystal Empire, or maybe Equestria." I stifled a cry and cleared my throat.
"It's for my own safety, isn't it? Me leaving."
"I know it's hard to understand this--" I cut him off.
"No. It's not hard to understand at all. There is a mad creature out there who wants nothing more than to kill me. You want me to run off to a distant place and stay there for my own safety. Well you know what? I'm going to run off like you told me to, I'm going to train myself to be as tough as the royal guards, when I come back, I'm going to face off against whatever that was we dealt with tonight! I'll make the both of you proud!" As my dad joined the hug, I wasn't so sure if I was serious about what I said, or if it was the adrenaline going through my head. Either way, I'm not going to fail my parents.
I shook the thought out of my head, and tearfully hugged my family goodbye, knowing this is probably the last time I'll see them. "Before I go..." I said as I removed the jacket. "I want you to hold on to this. It could get messy out there and I don't want this gift to be ruined." My mother used her magic to grab the jacket and pulled it close to her chest. "When I come back, I'm going to wear that like it's my suit of shining armor." My parents hugged me one more time and it was a little tighter this time. "I'm sorry, My Foal" mother apologized. "You don't have to be sorry. I swear to Celestia. I will come back and we can live as a family with not a problem in the world." With a final wave, I departed down the hall, and entered through the double doors where Princess Luna waited for me. "So, Your Highness" I said as I bowed. "Did you hear about what happened tonight?" I asked. "Indeed, Dear Foalie." "So, who or what am I dealing with?" Princess Luna levitated a book and flipped through some pages with her magic. She then showed me an image of a face shaped cloud, similar to the one from tonight.
"His name is Illusion. Nopony knows whether he is a pony or a dragon, and he could be another creature that's not part of Equestria. An expert in magic, and a firm believer of races that are in a world that is not their own, plots to take over." Just by looking at the image made me want to rip the page out. "How do I find him?" I asked. Princess Luna levitated a book from the shelf and opened it to a page. "I'm sending you a few years back. Way before you were adopted by Shining Armor and Princess Cadance." I stared at the picture of Illusion while she talked. I assumed that he hides his identity by making various shaped faces out of clouds. Princess Luna noticed that I was quiet. "Is thou something wrong, Foalie?" "When I talked back to him the second time, he said he knew me" I said. "Maybe he has something to do with me ending up in Equestria, or worse, my past." I stared at the image for a few more seconds before I closed the book. I sighed and faced her.
"I'm ready." "Now remember My Foal, in the timeline you're going to, nopony will know who you are. Expect them to know that you're human, but don't expect them to know you personally. Do not mention about your parents being Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. And also, do not mention that you and Twilight are related." "Understood." "Are you ready, Foalie?" She asked. I nodded. Princess Luna's eyes glowed white and began to chant a spell. Dark clouds began to form around me and gusts of wind hit me. Suddenly, a bright circle appeared in front of me, and a strong force had yanked me in. The second I was yanked into whatever timeline, I'm suppose to arrive at, Twilight entered the room. "Foalie!" She shouted. But it was too late, the spell had been completed and only Princess Luna remained in the room. Twilight angrily marched up to her.
"Where is he?!" She asked, almost crying. "Where is my VBFF?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY FOAL?!" "Twilight..." Princess Luna said calmly. "There is something in the past that needs to be prevented. Once Foalie can figure out what it is, the trouble today, would not exist." She gestured to the open book in front of her. "This is what I used on him." Twilight's eyes widened. "A Time Travel Spell?!" She asked excitedly. Her tone may be excited, but her eyes still had tears and were almost becoming slightly red from crying. "Yes, Twilight" she said. "But I'm scared for him." "Why?" "If Foalie messes up the past, he will also mess up the future. And one slip up in the past, he can never return to this timeline." "So what does he have to do?" "He has to clear something in the past, so in the future, the threat that was made tonight wouldn't happen." "What timeline did you send him?" "I was told by my sister to send him to the time when thou first stepped into Ponyville." "How long is he going to be there?" "If by the time your coronation to be an alicorn arrives, and he has accomplished all that needs to be done, he can come back home to this timeline. I just hope he doesn't mention anything about you being his relative, Shining Armor being his dad, and Princess Cadance being his mom, otherwise, he will seriously alter the future we are in now."